Bob Dylan is adamant he has no hard feelings towards Merle Haggard despite his controversial comments at a pre-Grammy Awards tribute. The folk rock icon was honoured as the 2015 MusiCares Person of the Year at a Los Angeles benefit gala earlier this month (Feb15), and during his speech he singled out Haggard for not supporting him at the beginning of his career.
Dylan said, "Merle Haggard didn't think much of my songs, but Buck Owens did, and Buck even recorded some of my early songs.
"Now I admire Merle... I love Merle but he's not Buck. Buck Owens wrote Together Again and that song trumps anything that ever came out of Bakersfield (the Bakersfield sound genre of country music). Buck Owens and Merle Haggard? If you have to have somebody's blessing - you figure it out. What I'm saying here is that my songs seem to divide people. Even people in the music community."
However, Dylan now insists he wasn't taking a swipe at Haggard, saying in a recent interview published on his own website, "I wasn't dissing Merle, not the Merle I know. What I was talking about happened a long time ago, maybe in the late Sixties. Merle had that song out called Fighting Side of Me and I'd seen an interview with him where he was going on about hippies and Dylan and the counter culture, and it kind of stuck in my mind and hurt, lumping me in with everything he didn't like.
"But of course times have changed and he's changed too. If hippies were around today, he'd be on their side and he himself is part of the counter culture... so yeah, things change. I've toured with him and have the highest regard for him, his songs, his talent... He's also a bit of a philosopher. He's serious and he's funny. He's a complete man and we're friends these days. We have a lot in common."

Madonna didn't care for E.L. James' bestselling Fifty Shades Of Grey novels, because they weren't sexy enough for her.
The book trilogy became a literary phenomenon a few years ago and now the first of the three books has been turned into a major movie, which was released around the world this week (ends13Feb15). But Madonna won't be rushing to see the film - because she wasn't that impressed by the books.
She tells Billboard.com, "It's pulp fiction. It's not very sexy. Maybe (it is) for someone who has never had sex before.
"I kept waiting for something exciting and crazy to happen in that red room thing, and I was like, 'Hmm, a lot of spanking'. I also thought, 'This is so unrealistic because no guy goes down (performs oral sex) on a girl that much'. I'm sorry, but no one eats p**sy as much as the guy in that book (Christian Grey)."

"I've met a lot of really great girls through Taylor. She's incredible at connecting people who might not normally meet. We're all in different jobs, but we've become strong friends who are there for each other - a sisterhood of girls, a support team. We're also just normal 20-something girls, and I think you have to have people that you can be that with... Real friends are hard to find." Model Karlie Kloss on best pal Taylor Swift.

Madonna has fired off a warning to "the word police" who will surely criticise her for the use of 'b**ch' in songs on the pop superstar's new Rebel Heart album, telling them to think twice before they take aim at her. The provocative star insists there are far worse words she could have used, admitting even she was shocked when friends would refer to each other using vile language when she lived in England.
Madonna tells Billboard.com, "I don't want to be policed! I'm not interested in political correctness. The word 'b**ch' means a lot of different things. Everything is about context.
"When I first moved to England and heard the word 'c**t', I was horrified. People were calling each other c**ts! And then I realised that, in that culture, it was different - they slapped each other on the back and said, 'Who's the c**t, right, you're my best mate!' The word 'f**k' doesn't just mean sexual intercourse. I mean, 'You're a stupid f**k', 'Are you going to f**k with me?' and 'F**k off!'
"Sex has nothing to do with any of those expressions, and the same goes for 'b**ch'. If I say to you, 'I'm a bada** b**ch', I'm owning myself, I'm saying, 'I'm strong, I'm tough, and don't mess with me'. If I say, 'Why are you being such a b**ch to me?', well, that means something else."

"I don't necessarily agree with a lot of the culture that comes with it, but I still identify as Mormon. I like to think of myself more as a spiritual person." Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds on his faith.

"When we actually worked together on Atonement, I think he... spent quite a lot of time trying to teach me tennis, which did not work. (He was) better than me. I don't remember him being particularly good, but he certainly thought he was good!" Actress Keira Knightley pokes fun at her Atonement and The Imitation Game co-star Benedict Cumberbatch's sporting skills, or lack thereof.

YouTube/TheRealAlysonStoner
If you watched this year's Super Bowl Half Time show you probably jumped out of your seat when Missy Elliot made a guest appearance. But, if you're like me, you were searching for one more thing. Where was the little girl who was in almost all of Missy's videos (and some of her live performances)? Alyson Stoner might have been MIA then, but she's just showed up now in the best way.
On her YouTube page, TheRealAlysonStoner, she posted this Missy Elliot tribute and it's ah-mazing:
YouTube
She can still flip it and reverse like its nobody's business.
You know Missy saw this and showed the love on Twitter:
@AlysonOnTour was the lil girl in my "work it" Gossipfolks video they grown up! MissyElliott Tribute http://t.co/osy22OyVeH
— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) February 12, 2015
And Missy also gave Alyson a shout out from when she was a kid:
Y'all enjoying @alysonontour MissyElliott tribute this her @ 9 yrs old in my work it video http://t.co/ZGiIfbqbUV
— Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) February 13, 2015
Stoner is up to a lot more than you might have thought. She's appeared in several Step Up movies, proving that she's even better of a dancer now than when she was the "little girl" in Missy's videos. She's also voiced Isabella on Phineas and Ferb since 2007. In 2015, you can expect to see her Selling Isobel and Kandence. We can also look forward to original music from Stoner some time this year.
You can follow Alyson Stoner on Twitter for updates on what she's up to 13 years after the "Work It" music video released.
Follow @hollywood_com
//
Follow @analuisasrz
//

The original manuscript featuring deleted lyrics and notes for Don Mclean's iconic song American Pie is expected to fetch up to $1.5 million (£938,000) at auction in April (15). The previously unseen 16-page document, compiled of handwritten and typed pages on a variety of coloured and lined notebook paper, contains notes, drafts and deleted lyrics from the 1971 classic.
McLean has never explained the meaning of most of the lyrics, except revealing the opening verses were inspired by the death of singer Buddy Holly in 1959.
McLean found the manuscript when rooting through boxes of his music paperwork and decided to sell it.
He tells Rollingstone.com, "I'm going to be 70 this year... I have two children and a wife, and none of them seem to have the mercantile instinct. I want to get the best deal that I can for them. It's time.
"I only have an attachment to my wife, children and my guitar... In fact, I'm going to rid myself of a lot of stuff. In a year or two, I'm going to have a big Christie's auction with guitars, clothes, boots, saddles, silver and watches. I collect a lot of stuff. It's time to let other people have it."
The lyric book will go under the hammer at Christie's auction house in New York on 7 April (15).
Francis Wahlgren from Christie's says, "The fact that the drafts, the working process of it, are all being offered as this lot makes it a remarkable insight into the mind of Don McLean and into this incredible song that has touched so many people."

Actor Vince Vaughn will always have the utmost respect for Johnny Depp because the Pirates Of The Caribbean star was kind and considerate towards him when he landed his first big acting gig. Vaughn was just 18 when he flew from his native Chicago, Illinois to Hollywood and scored an early role in Depp's hit TV series 21 Jump Street, and the Swingers star will never forget his first interaction with the show's leading man.
He tells Playboy magazine, "We were walking down some stairs and I was super nervous because I hadn't done much acting. Johnny could have ignored me completely, but he stopped and said, 'Hey, if you're over here, the camera will see you better'.
"I thought, 'Gosh, that's really gracious of this guy'. The director comes over and asks if I can move, but Johnny goes, 'No, I think Vince should be right here'."
Vaughn admits that early lesson paved the way for how he interacts with newcomers on film sets.
He adds, "That always reminded me to be like that whenever I could. It meant a lot to walk into a situation and have someone in a position of power be warm and including and make you feel a part of something.
"I always respected him for that."

India Arie has been quick to squash reports of a rift between herself and Lady Gaga after a member of the Poker Face singer's security team swatted her hand away when she attempted to catch her friend's attention on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards on Sunday (08Feb15). The singer took to Twitter to share the embarrassing run-in with fans, and quickly realised she may have sparked talk of a new music feud.
She wrote, "when I reached to speak to @ladygaga her security swatted my wrist - clapping something hard against my turquoise bracelet."
Gaga's fans lashed out at her for the tweet, prompting India Arie to clarify her comments and insist she's convinced her friend had no idea who was reaching out to her.
She adds, "Lets squash this now - everyone responding to my @ladygaga tweet - i know her i wanted to speak like did everyone else i saw i know (sic). Her security swatted my hand - SHE didn't see me. And my point is not @ladygaga my point is - this is the energy of the hollywood bubble. I give and expect respect - but some people aren't like that - and yes I was upset because @ladygaga security guard TOUCHED me.
"I was Not upset because @ladygaga didn't SEE me. I don't like being touched aggressively. Period... Thats it #Grammy2015 interesting times. A LOT of fun too. But thats personal time with real friends (sic)."